"Killer Within" was a great episode of Walking Dead if you like shocking moments. For that reason, I have a feeling this episode will be one of the most remembered of this season. And though I understand why that's case, this was actually arguably the weakest episode of season 3 so far. That's because there was too much Lori and Carl, and the story doesn't move forward one inch. Maybe that's intentional because the creators of the show wanted to really focus on the deaths of Lori and T-Dog, but I think the show could have benefited from a little more story progression in "Killer Within".
As far as the deaths themselves go, I give the creators credit for sending Lori out on a high note. She wasn't a character that I cared much for, and I can't say I'm terribly unhappy to see her go, but her death was suitably heroic and moving. Andrew Lincoln's reaction to Lori's death was also genuinely affecting and probably the highlight of his season as an actor thus far. I wish I could write such a glowing review where the death of T-Dog is concerned, but there isn't much positive I can find to say about the way IronE Singleton left The Walking Dead.
On the other hand, T-Dog has been arguably the most under-utilized character in the series thus far, and a guy we know virtually nothing about, so maybe it's fitting that his death was such a side note in this episode. Actually, because T-Dog had an uncharacteristic amount of dialogue and character development in this episode, I could see the writing on the wall well before the first zombie chomped into his collarbone. It's the old Lost principle. As soon as a character we don't usually hear much from is getting showcased, you can kiss their grits goodbye. It's truly sad that the creators of the show waited until his last episode to give T-Dog some depth as a character.
I learned in this episode that T-Dog is a religious man, and I learned from the Wikipedia entry on "Killer Within" that he is apparently a former football player. Would it have killed the show runners to focus on some of those aspects of his character before this episode? It's also a disappointing and entirely untimely that they killed off T-Dog in the same episode that another black guy joins the main crew. And the new guy, Oscar, happens to be a large, bald, black gentleman (just like T-Dog). Clearly the creators of The Walking Dead have a type when it comes to casting their token black guy roles. I'm sure that when Vincent Ward showed up on set the first time, Mr. Singleton could already determine that his head was on the chopping block.
Elsewhere in Woodbury, Michonne is still suspicious, and Andrea is still being charmed by The Governor. This is one of those situations that arises so often in television shows: so many problems could be solved if the characters would just talk to each other. Michonne has reservations about Woodbury, and as we know, the girl is right. But the thing is, her concerns aren't just a hunch; she's figured stuff out. She saw the bullet holes in the cars that The Governor and his crew stole after they killed the soldiers. Why doesn't she just explain this situation to Andrea instead of vaguely saying she doesn't like The Governor or Woodbury with no concrete information as to why? The Governor, too, was largely disappointing in this episode. I found David Morrissey's performance in the previous episode nuanced and subtle, but he has too many obvious "evil glare when Andrea isn't looking" moments in "The Killer Within" for my tastes.
This episode was certainly exciting, but overall, I would classify it as the first misstep of season 3. The good news is that the events of this episode will have some major fallout, and the stage is set for exciting developments in future seasons. Hopefully starting next week Walking Dead will get back on track by following the great standard set by previous episodes like "Walk with Me".
No comments:
Post a Comment